VPN vs. Proxy. What’s the best?

7 Apr 2015

So, the question is what’s a difference between Proxy and VPN? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What’s the best tool to use?

While both similar in function and purpose, they each have their own distinct advantages. When you connect to the internet using a proxy, you are requesting a connection via the proxy server. A proxy server looks like intermediate liaison between you and the rest of internet. All the traffic sending and receiving to and from your PC will appear as if it’s sending and receiving from the proxy server’s IP address.

VPN or Virtual Private Network is a group of computers networked together over the internet. VPN creates some kind of secure, safe and encrypted tunnel over the web through which the data is to be sent and received.

Proxy hides you behind a Proxy IP address, but your data are not completely encrypted and protected. VPN encrypts and routs all of your traffic through the VPN server, including all software and applications.

Proxy doesn’t have its own software. VPN has its own software with features to change server locations by single mouse click.

Free public proxies are not safe. Free proxy servers available on the internet are likely to be either misconfigured or perhaps set up in order to steal data like login, passwords, credit cards details and etc. VPN provides the highest level of privacy because it makes an encryption to the entire session, protecting all applications that access the Web.